Leaf bagging equipment

ABSTRACT

A leaf collecting and bagging assembly is made up of flexible plastic sheet having a draw string along its perimeter and capable of being spread out on the ground to serve as a leaf collecting surface and then converted into a bag by drawing the draw string to contain the leaves for discarding along with the bag.

This is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 07/388,505, filedAug. 2, 1989 now abandoned.

CROSS-REFERENCE

Leaf Bagging Equipment and Method--U.S. Pat. No. 4,471,600.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF INVENTION

This invention provides substantially circular plastic sheets adapted tobe formed into bags. Such sheets having handle shaped extensions atdiametrically opposite locations on its perimeter and a continuous hemand draw string enclosed therein.

BACKGROUND

The use of plastic bags having draw strings for yard work such as leafcollection is especially difficult without the use of either anotherindividual or some sort of rigid mechanism to hold the bag. One type ofrigid mechanism is a trash container that houses the plastic bag. Theuse of the trash container often creates the problem of not being ableto extract the bag from the container because the compressed leaves inthe bag are pushing against the inside wall of the container. Anothertype of rigid mechanism to hold the plastic bag is a metal frame. Theproblem with this is that often the bag tears when being used. Asolution to these problems is to use a flat sheet having a draw stringand place the leaves onto this sheet and then draw the draw stringthereby transforming the sheet into a bag to contain the leaves. Thissheet can have different shapes, i.e. rectangular, or circular. Thedisadvantage of a rectangularly shaped sheet is: it creates less volumefor a given area than that of a circular sheet; it is more difficult touse, i.e. four corners have to be manipulated; it does not always work,i.e. if less than all four corners are manipulated, the sheet will nottransform into a bag--a corner not accessed will gather under the loadof leaves instead of over the load of leaves. The advantage of acircular shaped sheet is: it creates more volume for a given area thanthat of a rectangular sheet; it is easier to use, i.e. only twolocations have to be manipulated; it always works. A draw string that isapproximately the same size as the perimeter of the sheet has theadvantage of being the shortest possible length. However, to use thistype of draw string it must be pulled outward from the sheet.Incorporating this requirement into the use of circular sheets has leadto this invention. This invention uses a circular sheet having a drawstring but also provides two handle shaped extensions locateddiametrically opposite each other along the perimeter of the circularsheet that are used to 1) maintain a grasp on the sheet so that the drawstring may be pulled outward from the sheet, 2) reduce the stress on thedraw string at a critical time when the sheet is being transformed intoa bag, and 3) determine the proper size of the load of leaves.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top view of a substantially circular flexible plastic sheet1 having two handle shaped extensions 2 and 3, hereafter called handles,located diametrically opposite each other along the perimeter of thesheet. The hem line 4 where the plastic sheet is permanently folded overto enclose the draw string or draw tape 5, hereafter referred to as drawstring, is shown. The openings 6 and 7 cut in the hem at each handleallow access to the draw string 5. The non accessible portion of thedraw string is shown by broken lines.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the thickness of the flexible plasticsheet 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the leaves 8 placed in the centerportion of the flexible plastic sheet 1.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the sheet 1 in a position thatsandwiches the leaves 8 (hidden in figure).

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the handles 2 and 3 grasped and thedraw string 5 pulled outward from the handles 2 and 3 thereby forming abag like shape which encloses the leaves 8.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring first to the preferred structure of FIGS. 1 to 5, it is madeup of a flexible plastic sheet 1. The flexible plastic sheet 1 issubstantially circular with two handle shaped extensions 2 and 3,hereafter referred to as handles, located diametrically opposite eachother along the perimeter of the plastic sheet 1.

A good size for the flexible plastic sheet 1 is 6 feet in diameter butmay be smaller or larger to fit the particular use that is contemplated.An appropriate thickness of the plastic is 1.5 mil (0.0015 inch) but maybe thinner or thicker to fit the particular use that is contemplated.

A permanent hem at substantially the entire perimeter of the flexibleplastic sheet 1 provides a channel 4. A draw string 5 is enclosed in thechannel 4. The draw string 5 has length less than that of the length ofthe perimeter of the plastic sheet 1. The draw string 5 will not extendbeyond the perimeter of the plastic sheet 1 when the plastic sheet 1 islaid out flat. Because of this, the draw string must be pulled outwardfrom the handles 2 and 3 in order for a bag to be formed from theplastic sheet 1. The draw string 5 may be made of plastic material orother types of flexible material.

The use of the flexible plastic sheet 1 is shown in FIGS. 3 to 5. InFIG. 3 the flexible plastic sheet 1 is spread out flat on the ground.The leaves 8 are then gathered or placed onto the center portion of theflexible plastic sheet 1 until they are piled quite high.

The next step is shown in FIG. 4 where the sides of the flexible plasticsheet 1 are lifted at the handles 2 and 3 to sandwich in the leaves 8(hidden in the figure). The handles 2 and 3 are used in this step todetermine if the size of the pile of leaves 8 are too large to becontained. If the handles 2 and 3 are higher than the leaves 8 and canbe placed together, then the leaves can be contained. If the handles 2and 3 are not higher than the leaves 8, then the leaves 8 must becompressed or some leaves 8 must be removed so that the handles 2 and 3can be placed together.

The next step is shown in FIG. 5 where the handles 2 and 3 are graspedand the draw string 5 is pulled outward from the handles 2 and 3 to forma bag like shape which encloses and contains the leaves 8. The handles 2and 3 provide a convenient part of the sheet 1 to hold in order to pullthe draw string 5 outward. The handles 2 and 3, when grasped, reducesthe stress on the draw string 5 when being drawn.

The bag with the contained leaves 8 can then be stored or discarded.

I claim:
 1. A single flat-lying substantially circular flexible.[.plastic.]. sheet with two handle shaped extensions, hereafterreferred to as handles, located diametrically opposite each other alongthe perimeter of the said .[.plastic.]. sheet, said sheet completelycovering the area within its entire said perimeter, said sheet beinghemmed at substantially the entire said perimeter thereof to form achannel, a continuous draw string or draw tape, hereafter referred to asdraw string, enclosed in said channel, openings in said channel at saidhandles to expose said draw string, the length of said draw string beingless than the length of the said perimeter of the said sheet, said drawstring used to form said sheet into a bag.
 2. A sheet according to claim1 wherein said sheet comprises .[.polyethylene or polypropylene.]..Iadd.plastic.Iaddend..
 3. A bag formed from a flat sheet according toclaim
 1. .Iadd.4. A sheet according to claim 1 wherein said sheetcomprises polyethylene or polypropylene. .Iaddend.